Television For Medicinal Purposes

We are attending a funeral for OH's grandmother tomorrow. She had a long life, living until 89. The last time we visited her was Labor Day weekend. It was hard to get over to the south coast where she lived. OH is having a really hard time with it. He wanted to visit her again, knowing we didn't have forever to be able to do so.

It's hard to lose someone you love. One of the things that happens is it reminds you of all the other people you've lost, and as one gets older, that list starts to add up.

How about a happy subject? I know I could use one. Okay, here's one: I hit gold at the library, if by gold I mean the kind of gold that drives you batty after awhile. I was in the children's dvd section where I found..... a copy of Schoolhouse Rock! It contains every song ever created in a special, 30th anniversary release of this magical show of my childhood. OC loves it.

I wasn't allowed to watch television before I was four years old for religious reasons. That reason being, television was worldly and therefore "of the devil". My mom came to her senses when I was four and a half and realized she couldn't live like that anymore. She cut her hair - and mine - and threw on some pants and some makeup, left her entire family and everyone she had ever known in the super-rigid, non-denominational Christian group (which she refers to as 'the cult' because of the many similarities to a cult represented in this group) in which she was raised and completely sheltered. She and was shunned by them all, except for the harsh rebukes, but we just laughed and went on painting our toenails with the devil's nailpolish and listened to Anne Murray on the devil's machine - the eight-track player - and then.....I discovered the wonder and glory of television and therein, Schoolhouse Rock.

And it was good.

I may or may not be going to hell for those things, but if I do at least I can sing some pretty catchy tunes with all my time down there. After some time spent in hell singing "Electricity" or something, I imagine I'll have to go beat up on some really bad people, like the pedophiles, because the songs are catchy but also - after numerous listens - pretty damn annoying.

And that is my happy thought for today. Wait, was that happy??? Basically. Yes. Childhood songs are good in small doses, much like alcohol. And Britney Spears.